Baseball Walked Off by Mount Saint Mary, Unable to Split Conference-Opening Twin Bill

NEWBURGH, N.Y. — Despite three hits from Lucas Collet (Toulouse, France/Lyc'ee Bellevue) and Louis Lombardi (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep), the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team was walked off, 6-5, by Mount Saint Mary College in the second game of a Saturday afternoon. Chris Leary (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial) led the team with a pair of RBI in the contest.

In game one, the Bears (2-9, 0-2) were blanked by the Knights (6-6, 2-0), 3-0. The doubleheader marked the Skyline Conference opener for both sides.

How it Happened (Game 1)

After a scoreless first inning, the Knights got on the board courtesy of a sacrifice fly in the second. Bears' starter Mike Santoriello (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) kept the hosts at bay, keeping them off the board in the third and fourth innings. The southpaw struck out three over 5.2 innings

MSMC tacked on a pair of runs in the home half of the fifth, enough to see them defeat the Bears, 3-0. SJC recorded three hits in game one; courtesy of base-knocks from Anthony Hernandez (Selden, N.Y./Newfield), Collet, and Michael Gardener (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale).

How it Happened (Game 2)

Lombardi tossed a solid four innings, fanning five and allowing just three hits. The Bears gave the senior run support in the top of the fifth. With a pair of runners on, Collet's sac fly scored Thomas Airey (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage). Leary singled down the left-field line in the next at-bat, bringing Hernandez home and giving the Bears a pair of runs in their favor.

Mount Saint Mary erased SJC's lead in the next half inning, tying the contest at two on an RBI double while plating their third on a throwing error.

A pair of RBI doubles from Kevin Reyes (Bronx, N.Y./AECI) and Abner Victor (San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic/John Adams) saw the navy and gray retake the lead in the eighth, 4-3, before Leary's single drove home Collet in the top of the ninth.

The Knights led off the bottom of the ninth with a run and three hits. A fly-out scored the game-tying run before Brandon Nolasco scored MSMC's winning run on Adam Leone's groundout.

For the Bears (Game 2)

• Lombardi went 4.2 innings on the mound, striking out six – matching a season-high – and allowing a pair of earned runs. At the plate, the senior went 3-for-4.

• Collet also went 3-for-4, scoring a run and batted in another.

• Leary finished the encounter 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI and a stolen base.

• Airey went 2-for-4 and scored a run.

• Andrew Monda (Centereach, N.Y./Newfield) and Matt McHugh (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) combined to pitch four innings of relief with the latter charged with the loss.

Up Next

The Bears visit SUNY New Paltz for a single game on Wednesday, March 30 at 4 p.m. Live stats and video will be made available on sjcbears.com/live.